Unintended Illustrated Sermon

Well, God rocks! I went into this Sunday's service "prayed up" and expecting God to move mightily. I had been meditating a lot on what God wanted to say this week, was excited for the message, the new location, the new vision and growth we've been seeing to continue, etc. I was also in a state of expectancy due to the weather man's ominous predictions for service time. There was a lot surrounding today's service, and I knew it was going to be meaningful...and it was, just not the way I had been expecting.

Today's message was all about the redemption on Bethlehem. In the days of Jesus, Bethlehem was a little no-name place with not much of a reputation. It had nothing on its own going for it, and yet this is preciously where God chose to bring forth His Messiah and world redeemer. Out of nothing, something great happened; and ironically, this is precisely what happened in church today.

Today, we met in a new theater inside the Midway. We have been growing every week and this new theater offered us more space, better lighting, and supposedly more time to set-up and tear down. It was the right decision to move, and everything started off GREAT in service today. The lighting and sound were great, people could see, we were on track, yet when the message started...

As I am delivering the message, the theater's PA system kicks in with Alvin and the Chipmunks singing "I Saw the Witch Doctor." This was followed by a country diddy about a love-sick Reba McIntyre. Eventually it stopped, but it was a real mood killer for sure. We continued on in the service, yet a few minutes later I see people pointing and laughing at the screen. I turn around to see what was going on and the theater's projector had turned on. Sure enough, over the Bible verses were advertisements for popcorn and hair removal (not on the same slide, of course). It was a wild and crazy time, but FIT PERFECTLY with what God was telling us through His message in Micah 5:2.

The service ended beautifully with us recognizing that God is in charge not matter what, when we allow Him to be. He can take any mess, uncertainty, calamity and make it perfect for accomplishing His will. We SAW that today at Forest Hills Community Church.

I love Jesus. He never ceases to amaze me....